He Is Series: Day #6 I am the Alpha and the Omega

I am the Alpha and the Omega Revelations 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Have you heard this description of the Lord before? “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” I feel as though I have heard that a lot. I am not sure I knew what Alpha and Omega were before, though. Did you know that Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet? What God means when He says He is the Alpha and the Omega is that He is the beginning and the end. God is with us in the beginning, before we were even born. He will also be with us in the end. One of the ladies from my prayer group mentioned that we can find comfort in this thought when we have aging relatives or friends. Sometimes, when we have aging relatives, they require a lot of assistance. We want to be with them to help them, and sometimes we just can’t be with them all the time. But we can rest assured that even when we can’t be with them, God is with them. He is probably better company anyway. I remember when I was little, I always struggled with the thought that God was always there. That with God, there is no beginning and end. He was just always there. Actually, if I think about it too much, I still struggle with this. Then, yesterday, my friend Louise from the prayer group explained this in a way that made a lot of sense to me. She said that we struggle with things like this because we are human and we think in very finite terms. Our minds are limited, so we cannot understand everything about God. He is not finite, and we can’t try to make him fit into a box that our minds can comprehend. He is a wonder in so many ways. I do take comfort in knowing that God was there at the beginning and He will be there at the end, and He is there every day in between. We are never alone. I am sure it does not always feel like this. Some days we can feel God’s presence more than others. Why is that? Why do we have some days when we know God is with us, and others when we feel He has abandoned us? Those are two excellent questions. Ones I am not sure I know the answer to, and yet ones I still wanted to ask because I think it is something we could all think about. I think we would each have a different answer to these questions. When I think about those questions, I wonder when I feel closest to God. I think it is when I am praying or praising Him. Actually, maybe more so when I am praising Him. When I am listening to Christian music and singing along, I can feel God’s presence. I follow this woman on social media, whose name is Kristina Kuzmic. She is really funny and does short videos about parenting and about being a woman. They are very uplifting and encouraging. They help you to know that parenting is hard for everyone and that you are perfect just the way you are. Anyway, she dances all the time. Just walking down the street, she will be dancing. I used to wonder why. However, I’ve discovered I feel the same way when I am listening to praise music. There is a free playlist on Spotify called Big Life Mornings. It is filled with upbeat Christian songs. I listen when I go for a run, when I walk my dog, when I drive, or when I clean. I listen to it a lot. When I listen to it and sing along, I feel as though God is with me. I can feel His presence, and it makes me want to dance, too. I am not sure I am describing the feeling correctly, but it is truly amazing. If you feel like God has abandoned you and haven’t felt His presence in a while, maybe take some time today to play some Christian music and see how you feel. See if Jesus fills your soul. Another time I feel the Lord’s presence is in Eucharistic Adoration. If you are a Christian and not Catholic, you may not know what this is. We, as Catholics, believe that Jesus Christ is present in the Eucharist. Eucharistic Adoration is when the priest displays the host or eucharist in a vessel called a monstrance. The monstrance is placed on the altar or a table and is left there for a certain period of time. We get to go and sit with Jesus and pray in His actual presence. I know that God is with us all the time. We do not need to go to adoration to be with Jesus. However, I find I do feel closer when I go. I am not sure how to describe it, other than comparing it to when you go to a grave site to visit someone who has passed away. You do not need to be at the grave site to talk to that person, but somehow, being there, where their body is buried, makes you feel closer. If you are Catholic and have never tried going to adoration, I would urge you to give it a try. Find out where it is located and go once a week for a month, and see how much it changes your life. I try to go for an hour, but even 10 minutes could make a difference. Just go sit with the Lord. I think you will definitely ...